Have
you heard of Philosamia rinini? And what
groups : Arani, Kanchipuram,
Pochampalli, Dharmavaram, Benares, Mysuru and …. the 2nd
part is simple : SILK..*

A material which
makes the wearer exude elegance and sophistication at first glance. It is indeed visual, attention-grabbing features- shiny and
opulent. It has rich heritage dating back thousands of years ! it is costly and that way has added
attraction of being rich. However, of late, we hear so many people denouncing stating that for
one silk saree so many hundreds of butterflies or caterpillars that would otherwise
have become caterpillars had to die ! and hence they
would stay away from wearing Silk – is that real or myth ?!?!?

Releasing
butterflies is the latest trend at some weddings, and other special occasions. It is
believed that butterflies take dreams and wishes to the sky and bring good
fortune. They are also considered a symbol of rebirth or new beginnings. This
latest fad comes from South America and is spreading around the world.

Silk is a natural
protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber
of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae
to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae
of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The
shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of
the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different
angles, thus producing different colors. Silk is produced by several insects,
but generally only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile
manufacturing. Sadly caterpillars are
boiled to death and then the silk is takenout !

Silk fabric was
first developed in ancient China dating back to 3630 BC; legend gives credit
for developing silk to a Chinese empress, Leizu (Hsi-Ling-Shih, Lei-Tzu). Silks
were originally reserved for the Emperors of China for their own use and gifts
to others, but spread gradually through Chinese culture and trade both
geographically and socially, and then to many regions of Asia. Silk has a long history in India. Called ‘Pattu’
in southern parts of India, employing
wild silk threads from native silkworm species, existed in South Asia during
the time of the Indus Valley Civilization. India is the second largest producer
of silk in the world after China.

There are four
types of natural silk which are commercially known and produced in the
world. Among them mulberry silk is the
most important and contributes as much as 90 per cent of world production,
therefore, the term "silk" in general refers to the silk of the
mulberry silkworm. Three other commercially important types fall into the
category of non-mulberry silks namely: Eri silk; Tasar silk; and Muga
silk. There are also other types of
non-mulberry silk, which are mostly wild and exploited in Africa and Asia, are
Anaphe silk, Fagara silk, Coan silk, Mussel silk and Spider silk.

This is no
post on mulberry silk but the live moths; live caterpillars that were on display at
Kalaivanar Arangam this day. .. .. and
the man incharge of this stall with patience explained that these are not real
butterflies, have a shorter life (they do not get killed); they reproduce,
caterpillars emerge out of their cocoons (reared) then grow to become a full
insect, mate, reproduce and die. As they
emerge out, the cocoon otherwise of no use to the insect is then used for
production of silk – and hence has no stigma !!.

Eri silk from North
East India - belong to either of two species namely Samia ricini and Philosamia
ricini. Also called Castor silkworm it is a domesticated one reared on castor oil
plant leaves to produce a white or brick-red silk popularly known as Eri silk.
Since the filament of the cocoons spun by these worms is neither continuous nor
uniform in thickness, the cocoons cannot be reeled and, therefore, the moths
are allowed to emerge and the pierced cocoons are used for spinning to produce
the Eri silk yarn. The fascination
towards eri clothes among the folk life of Assam and the North-east can easily
be gauged from an old Assamese proverb (“dair päni, erir käni”) which implies
that while curd cools the eri clothe warms up a person. The name “Eri” is derived from an assamese
word “Era” the castor plant. This originally wild silk-moth in India, the Eri
Silkmoth (Samia ricini)is now fully domesticated and used mainly in the north
eastern parts of the country.

The earliest
reference to Eri silk culture in India is documented in 1779, and Eri silk was
long called “Assam silk”. The larvae feed mainly on leaves of Castor (Ricinus
communis), but have a number of alternate host plants such as Kesseru
(Heteropanax fragrans), Cassava or Topioca (Manihot exculata) and a few other
plants species Eri silk cocoons cannot be reeled because the cocoons are
collected only after the moth emerges out, leaving a hole in the cocoon, that
breaks the continuity of the silk filament. The cocoons are therefore subjected
to spinning either by hand / spinning
wheel or by machine (mill-spun). Products made out of coarse hand spun eri silk
yarns were mostly of thick / coarse quality fabric suitable for limited usage
like gents and ladies shawl. Today, with the advent of technology, company like
fabric plus spins eri spun silk as fine as Nm210, that enables to broaden the
application range to a multiple dimension. Eri silk is now used as one of the
most sustainable, low impact, high social impact fibre to produce fabrics and
has become very popular amongst those
who practice absolute non-violence and do not use any product obtained by
killing any living creature. Buddhist monks in India, Bhutan, Nepal, China,
Japan prefer this silk due to its cruelty-free process.

Miles
away, the artist Damien Hirst came under
fire after it emerged that more than 9,000 butterflies died as part of an art
work in his latest exhibition. A few years back, visitors to the exhibit at the
Tate Modern in London observed the insects close-up as they flew, rested, and
fed on bowls of fruit. But whilst the work, In and Out of Love, was praised by
many art critics when it featured in the gallery’s Hirst retrospective it was
to land the artist in a row with the
RSPCA. By some accounts, more than 9,000 butterflies died during the 23
weeks that the exhibition was open. Each week it was replenished with
approximately 400 live butterflies to replace those that died – some of them
trodden underfoot, others injured when they landed on visitors’ clothing and
were brushed off ~ and Western World would often run campaigns to tell the World
that elephants and other animals are being treated cruelly in India.